This is a BLOG from Mark Cochrane of Business Strategies Group in Hong Kong. We've been keeping a close watch on B2B media and business information in Asia since 2000 and look forward to sharing insights with you.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

News this week: Macau’s Statistics and Census Service (DESC) has released its latest data on Macau’s MICE industry for the fourth quarter and the full year of 2011. In the fourth quarter, the number of MICE participants jumped 131% rising from 220,163 in 2010 to 508,125 in 2011. However, the number of events dropped from 380 in 2010 to 272 in the fourth quarter of last year – a 28% decrease.

Although the number of exhibitions held in the fourth quarter slipped to 16 compared with 17 in 2010, the number of exhibitions participants soared from 182,427 in 2010 to 479,825. Meetings held in the quarter dropped by 29%, from 363 in 2010 to 256 in Q4, while participant numbers during the period dropped 25% from 37,736 to 28,330.

For the full year of 2011, total MICE events were down 25% from 1,399 in 2010 to 1,045. In contrast, the number of participants saw an impressive growth of 59% to 1,278,054, up from 806,135 in 2010. The number of meetings and meetings participants both dropped by 26% to 994 and 110,771 respectively. A total of 51 exhibitions were held in 2011, which were attended by 1,167,283 participants – up 78% year-on-year.

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